The True Identity of Jack the Ripper May Have Just Been Confirmed

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As the Telegraph reports, the claim is based on evidence from a diary that belonged to a Liverpool cotton salesman named James Maybrick in the late 19th century. In the diary, Maybrick describes killing six women—five in London’s East End where the Ripper's historic murders occurred and one in Manchester. He signed the 9000-word volume: "I give my name that all know of me, so history do tell, what love can do to a gentleman born. Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper."

Jack the Ripper researchers have been aware of the document since it was discovered 25 years ago. While most experts have been hesitant to take it seriously, one team, led by Withnail & I writer and director Bruce Robinson, now believes it can prove the diary’s authenticity.

The team was able to trace the book back to Maybrick’s former home in Liverpool, which challenges the idea that the account was forged long after the killing spree took place. Maybrick, an affluent merchant who lived on a estate called Battlecrease House, died in 1889, one year after the last murder attributed definitively to the Ripper.

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